The right place at the right time....

I've been thinking of starting my own business for awhile now, a couple of years, to be exact. It all started when I realized that Grandma really needed some help to keep her lifestyle intact, but she lives in Richmond, and I live in Charlotte. Grandma loves her home, and really doesn't need or want to ever move and live somewhere else. Not even into this pretty little guesthouse I could have fixed up with her things for her.....

So, I started doing some research about a year ago. What I found was that there are really no widely known options for care for senior citizens who are healthy and able to go about their daily life with a little assistance. Assisted living homes are outrageously expensive, so that's not really an option for Grandma while she's totally healthy and independent. The type of home that you can get paid for with Medicare is not somewhere I want my loved one to live. Since Grandma doesn't want to come live with me (and being in her own home environment is what's really best for her), I needed to find someone who'd come to her.

Well, I had some around the clock nursing care for Grandma when she was recuperating from a broken hip. Grandma doesn't need that kind of care now. She needs someone to drive her to her appointments, to the bank, to get her hair done, and to help her plan, buy the ingredients for and prepare her meals (or she'll be eating at Captain D's and Aunt Sarah's every day....)

Finally, I found a little company that provided companion care for seniors. Aha! Here's someone who might be able to help! Well, kinda. See, the person the company sent to help Grandma had nothing in common with Grandma--socioeconomically, experience-wise or age-wise. They sent a young high school graduate from the inner city who had no idea what to talk with Grandma about, how to dress, or even how to act around Grandma. Grandma hated this option. Finally, when the girl got into a car accident with Grandma and the company didn't inform me, Grandma's car insurance company informed me, I fired them.

Grandma's hairdresser got my phone number from a relative, and called me to tell me about her friend Cindy who'd recently been laid off and had a real sweet way with her elderly neighbors. Thank you, God! I called Cindy, a couple of times, and developed a job description and a pay scale for her. As the weeks went by, I developed my oversight practices to protect Grandma's personage, her money and her routine. I utilized my family contacts to have people stop in and check up on Cindy, and along the way, I've developed my company's business model.

About a week ago, I sent out my first marketing effort. While I was on vacation, I made an appointment for my first interview. What I'm selling is exactly what this older couple needs--they've recently moved back home from their assisted living facility because she was so unhappy there she wouldn't go to the dining room to eat. I met her agency-provided caregiver yesterday when I returned from his doctor's appointment, and the lady hadn't eaten lunch and was miserably staring at some talk show about tattooed ex-convicts. The girl (another high school graduate who hopes to start college sometime) had no idea what needed to be done and Betty couldn't tell her, and was glad to have me give her some directions. I'll have her trained in a couple of weeks, and who knows? Maybe some one-on-one training will turn her into my employee #3!

I'm about to close my second client, a post-transplant home nursing job that I've contracted my friend's mother, a retired RN for tonight. Wish me luck!